Guest 694- Registered: 22 Mar 2010
- Posts: 778
25 January 2011
22:0490269#1
Infact.. no this isnt even kids.... these are people that are 4 years younger than me..
They are asking why people are all eating haggis and there are bag pipes in their local pub..
when explained ... they then asked who Robert Burns were!!
Ohh i need to go have a lie down in a quiet room ...
The sheer ignorance!!! Ok.. maybe just maybe I am very old before my time..
25 January 2011
22:1790270#2
Jenni I do agree with you. My son, who is 27 now, once wrote a story at school (Shatterlocks) starting it "wuns a pon a tim". When I asked why it hadn't been corrected the reply was "Oh we know what he means!" Amazing.
I have to say that he now has a degree and a top job in a university so he did well despite that, but I do share your frustration. You're not old, just well educated
25 January 2011
22:5090273#3
Seconded, over and over!!!!!
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
25 January 2011
23:1490278#4
I often wonder if english spelling and grammar are taught in some schools. I am sure that history now starts and ends at WW2, I learnt about the history through the ages.
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I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
25 January 2011
23:3190280#5
Apparently attention to grammar is being re-introduced at school.
If someone was writing an essay in history, in my day it would have been marked down for poor grammar but in the recent past they did not do that and only marked it on the basis of the history - complete educational madness.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
25 January 2011
23:4090282#6
In my history of Dover, Dover is the oldest port in the British Isles.
And the name comes from the Celtic Dubra, not from Latin, Dubris being a Latin case derivation of Dubra.
As for spelling, it comes with time.
Guest 703- Registered: 30 Jul 2010
- Posts: 2,096
26 January 2011
00:4690287#7
No Alexander, spelling comes from good teaching.
My first school was also Shatterlocks, and I don't ever remember wrong spelling being accepted there or anywhere after.
I do remember not too long ago being taken to task by a final year undergraduate because I had corrected her spelling on a report - as with Alf's comment above, she said I ought to know what she meant even though the different spelling changed the meaning completely.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
26 January 2011
08:0990296#8
I've always thought it very wrong to accept bad spelling, whatever it's for.
Any business or organisation cannot afford to have people working for them who can't spell (or do basic maths, but that's another issue), punctuate or construct sentences - it will obviously reflect badly on that company or organsiation.
I may make spelling mistake on here, but I proof-read every posting but might sometimes miss a typing error; if I don't know or are unsure how to spell a word, I look it up in the dickshunerry (!)
Roger
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
26 January 2011
08:2190298#9
I totally agree, people should take the time to check spelling and grammar but we can all understand mistakes, we're only human.
The funny thing about this is that it turns into one of those 'not in my day' discussions. Although these skills come from good teaching, Alex is right in way, over time they develop.
People of all ages on this forum have varying degrees of competence, and in some cases now run things through spell check. Also pasting into word, gives them extra punctuation that is sometimes superfluous. So we are all learning.
I know lots of older people that would make my 6 year old son look like 'Robert Burns'
Guest 700- Registered: 11 Jun 2010
- Posts: 2,868
26 January 2011
10:5790317#10
Spelling I think comes from good (early) tuition from parents, then school, and a lot of reading when you are young, to make a visual memory of words...
Punctuation and good grammar come from a lot of practise at writing whether letters or other things.
But not texting !
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Lincolnshire Born and Bred
Guest 649- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 14,118
26 January 2011
12:3490323#11
As you all know I am very very good at all that.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
26 January 2011
12:5490325#12
all this texting that youngsters do is not helpful to them, some appear to use it on-line too.
i remember when i first went onto the internet i was taken to task for using capital letters(apparently it is seen to be rude) so i have never used one since.
about the same time i tried out spellcheck and found it used "american" words like "theater" so have never used that facility since.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
26 January 2011
14:5290337#13
Texting is not helpful to writing formally, but it is a part of the evolution of our language. Just as American spellings are being excepted into our dictionary.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
26 January 2011
16:0790341#14
accepted, DT, accepted, not excepted....LOL
Seriously, while language does evolve we should resist the dumbing down to the lowest common denominator all the time and enforce standards, a much forgotten word these days. Text speak is lazy, gross, unreadable and totally unacceptable - particularly in an adult, even when texting.
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
26 January 2011
16:3190342#15
Got me there...damn it, like I said all human. The pedant in me wants to edit it but I will resist! Good to see you LOL though, fully embracing text language.
Just to be clear, I never use 'text speak' even when texting, but fully understand why.
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
26 January 2011
16:3790343#16
I find text messaging infuriatingly slow compared to the morse code I used for twenty years back in the old days, all history now.
http://www.coolestone.com/media/787/Text-Messaging-Vs-Morse-Code----Jay-Leno/DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
26 January 2011
16:5390344#17
Good link Ed.
Just to add, I still can't quite get over the irony (and shame) of my mistake!
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
26 January 2011
18:1390350#18
As you said Darren, we're all human (well most of us) !
Roger
Guest 694- Registered: 22 Mar 2010
- Posts: 778
26 January 2011
20:0390359#19
I admit that my spelling isnt great.. and i know i type the way i speak , and if you met me it would all become clear!
But still! Not knowing who Robbie Burns is!
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
26 January 2011
21:1290360#20
It is largely to do with the fact that education is still consumed with political bashing, rather than educating (true of previous governments too!) Education is about learning things...and wanting to learn them as opposed to learning how to pass exams.
